Comparing uptake across breast, cervical and bowel screening at an individual level: a retrospective cohort study

Colin McCowan, Paula McSkimming, Richard Papworth, Marie Kotzur, Alex McConnachie, Sara Macdonald, Sally Wyke, Emilia Crighton, Christine Campbell, David Weller, Robert JC Steele, Kathryn A Robb

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Background

We investigated demographic and clinical predictors of lower participation in bowel screening relative to breast and cervical screening.

Methods

Data linkage study of routinely collected clinical data from 430,591 women registered with general practices in the Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board. Participation in the screening programmes was measured by attendance at breast or cervical screening or the return of a bowel screening kit.

Results

72.6% of 159,993 women invited attended breast screening, 80.7% of 309,899 women invited attended cervical screening and 61.7% of 180,408 women invited completed bowel screening. Of the 68,324 women invited to participate in all three screening programmes during the study period, 52.1% participated in all three while 7.2% participated in none. Women who participated in breast (OR = 3.34 (3.21, 3.47), p < 0.001) or cervical (OR = 3.48 (3.32, 3.65), p < 0.001) were more likely to participate in bowel screening.

Conclusion

Participation in bowel screening was lower than breast or cervical for this population although the same demographic factors were associated with uptake, namely lower social deprivation, increasing age, low levels of comorbidity and prior non-malignant neoplasms. As women who complete breast and cervical are more likely to also complete bowel screening, interventions at these procedures to encourage bowel screening participation should be explored.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)710–714
Number of pages5
JournalBritish Journal of Cancer
Volume121
Issue number8
Early online date4 Sept 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Oct 2019

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